Chapter 45: CH. 45 | A Vision Beyond Time

The woman reacted instantly, drawing her sword to block the man’s attack.

As their two blades collided, a shockwave of mana energy erupted, accompanied by a sudden gust of powerful wind.

Theo and everyone else nearby were shoved back by the force of the gust. He quickly drew his sword and planted it into the ground, trying to keep himself from being pushed even farther.

A fight between two gold rank adventurers, probably.

He glanced elsewhere and saw the entire tavern area in complete disarray, food and drinks scattered everywhere, adventurers knocked clean off their seats.

One of the guild staff rushed over to separate the two of them. She clearly threatened them both with punishment from the City Authority of Justice for disturbing the peace.

Xavier listened to what she said, then took a long breath and let it out slowly. He sheathed his sword and turned back to look at his party members.

"I don’t need to get my hands dirty killing her. Sooner or later, her own stupidity will get her killed anyway!" Xavier grumbled.

The assassin woman didn’t react much at all. She sheathed her dagger-like blade, characteristic of her class, and walked away, leaving the tavern and the guild behind entirely.

Theo stayed at the tavern, tidying up his table again as his food arrived. Another adventurer from a different group approached him, greeting Theo like she recognized him.

"You’re the leader of that rookie party, right?" the female adventurer asked, "So, are you interested in joining our combined party?"

He glanced over at Xavier and the others, then smiled and shook his head. He explained that it might be a valuable experience for veteran adventurers, but not for rookies like his group.

There was no way a girl like Aya, part of his party, could stand a chance against the Dark Legion’s forces. It was hard enough to imagine, let alone actually attempt right now.

The female adventurer didn’t push the matter any further. She moved on to other adventurers, trying to persuade them to join instead.

That night, Theo finished his dinner, occasionally sharing bits with Avara. Even though he knew Avara was a half human crow, she didn’t seem picky about food at all.

They finished it all off together, and Avara looked thoroughly satisfied afterward. Before long, Theo left the guild with Avara.

Once outside, he took in the lively bustle of the city at night, especially around the food stalls filling the city center as people headed out for dinner.

But since he was already full from his own meal, Theo chose to head straight to his apartment to rest instead. He opened the door and gave Avara a tour of the place.

"This actually belongs to a friend of a friend, I’m just looking after it," Theo said, both of them standing with hands on their hips.

"There’s no one else here, just me," Theo added, glancing at her briefly, "You can go ahead and change back to your human form."

Avara listened to what Theo said. She flew over to the sofa and swung her arm through the air.

A swirl of black crow feathers wrapped around her body, then vanished a second later, revealing the black haired woman underneath.

"Not bad," Avara said, "This seat’s actually comfortable, way different from the one back home."

Theo opened the fridge and pulled out a bottle of cola, along with two glasses, of course. He brought them to the table in front of the sofa and poured a glass for Avara.

At first, the girl seemed unfamiliar and a bit put off by it, but after catching its scent, which wasn’t half bad, and giving it a try, she seemed to genuinely enjoy it.

"W-What’s this called?"

"Cola, or as I’ve heard some people call it, soft drink."

"This is delicious," Avara said, "People back in my village really need to try this."

Theo smiled and sat down in his chair. He figured he’d bring a whole stash of cola bottles back to the village someday.

For now, he was content just letting Avara enjoy it.

While watching her, Theo’s attention drifted to the mysterious ring on one of his fingers.

The power of that Foresight Skill earlier had been genuinely terrifying, but it clearly carried the potential for serious consequences too.

He couldn’t help but wonder if there was some other way to uncover the ring’s abilities and the story behind it.

Because if Theo had to go dig through historical records for answers, that would take an enormous amount of time.

What if I tried channeling my mana into the ring directly? The same way I do when activating the foresight skill.

There was no harm in Theo giving it a try. He sat back comfortably, took a long breath, and let it out slowly.

"I’m about to try something with this ring," Theo said, "Please make sure I don’t end up doing anything bad."

Avara took a sip of her drink and turned to look at Theo, nodding obediently and promising she’d keep a close eye on him.

Theo began channeling his mana power once his body settled into a stable, relaxed state. He closed his eyes and let his consciousness drift, guided by the ring’s power.

Before long, Theo opened his eyes again and found himself standing in a mysterious place.

His feet touched solid ground, but the scene stretching out ahead of him was the ruins of an entire city.

"What’s going on? Where is this?"

Theo walked forward into the ruined city, its buildings nearly swallowed whole by tall weeds and clinging vines.

There were no signs of any human presence left in this place, but wild animals had clearly made it their home.

"What destroyed this city? And who caused it? Was it the Dark Legion?"

WOOSH!

While Theo stood there lost in thought, he was startled by a burst of magical light streaking across the sky at incredible speed.

Two figures landed among the ruins, and the woman walked toward the half collapsed remains of what looked like a church.

"Hold on... Aslan!"

Aslan? Saint Knight Aslan?

Why does this ring keep showing me them again? Why do they keep appearing in my life?

The two of them made their way into the church, the man named Aslan clearly wounded, badly. Their stumbling footsteps left a trail of blood dripping onto the ground.

A few minutes passed, and Theo watched a swarm of black winged flying monsters closing in on the location.

Theo had no idea whether he could actually be seen by them or not, but their condition looked genuinely dire to him.

Curious, Theo started walking toward the church. As the door opened, he saw Aslan sprawled helplessly beside the altar.

The woman beside him stayed close, never leaving his side, and Theo recognized her, she was Aslan’s wife, and he remembered her name was Hana.

"At least... that should be enough to convince the Nether Emperor to agree to a ceasefire," Aslan said quietly.

"No! You have to survive! What about our child?"

Aslan turned to look at Theo, who had been staring at him this entire time. Aslan raised his hand and pointed forward, catching Theo completely off guard.

Hana turned around too, following the direction Aslan was pointing. But her reaction made it clear she had no idea what Aslan was actually doing.

"He’s here..."

"What?!" Theo said, startled.

"Who?" Hana asked.

Before Aslan could answer, the church door was violently kicked open, startling them both. Theo instinctively spun around, bracing himself into a fighting stance.

But the Dark Legion and its horde of demonic creatures simply passed straight through him, as if Theo weren’t actually there at all.

"What’s... happening?"

He turned back around and saw Hana already chanting a powerful spell, trying to hold them all back. Before long, a blinding, radiant light burst forth from within the church.

Right as Hana channeled that power, she looked forward and spoke.

"T-Theo...?"

"H-How could you possibly know—"

BLAST!

A powerful explosion jolted Theo awake from within the ring’s dimension. He woke up in shock, with Avara right beside him, rushing to comfort him.

Theo’s heart pounded wildly, sweat drenching his face, his breath coming in ragged gasps. A wave of nausea churned through his stomach and up into his throat, and he threw himself to the side, vomiting everything up.

"What happened to you?!" Avara shouted.

Theo tried to steady himself and pushed himself back up. That projection, he had no idea whether it had been a vision of the future or the past.

But what confused him most was why it had felt so much more real than any ordinary dream.

And why did that woman named Hana know his name? And why had Aslan pointed straight at him just now?

Too many questions crowded Theo’s mind, and he had no idea where to even begin searching for answers.

But out of every dream he’d ever had, all of them shared the exact same perspective, Theo’s own.

Am I the child of Saint Knight Aslan and Mage Hana?